Arcega-Whiteside let big chance slip
PHILADELPHIA >> In any athletic career, the chances for early and lasting credibility are few. In an atmosphere thick for one Sunday, rookie Eagles receiver J.J. ArcegaWhiteside let one slip.
His opportunities multiplied as veterans DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery recover from injuries, and his preseason excellence having boosted his early status, it was Arcega-Whiteside with the late chance to catch a potential gamewinning touchdown pass from Carson Wentz.
Instead, with 41 seconds left and the Eagles facing fourth-and-15 from their 45, Wentz spotted ArcegaWhiteside near the Detroit two and unloaded a reasonably accurate pass. But the Lions’ Rashaan Melvin leaped along with ArcegaWhiteside and appeared to touch the ball just enough that when it hit the Eagles’ receiver it was difficult to corral.
The Eagles would have no more chances and fall, 27-24.
“There was no other assessment other than I’ve got to go get it,” said ArcegaWhiteside, professionally stationed in front of his locker stall for questioning immediately after the game. “It was tight coverage. I was going to elevate. I expected some contact. There was no contact. And the ball just ended up right there. I have to make that play.”
The Eagles dropped seven passes Sunday and lost by a field goal. Some mistakes can be lost in the mist of a three-hour game. Others are more difficult to miss. For Arcega-Whiteside, a second-round draft choice from Stanford, that wasted chance will not quickly cease to haunt.
“It’s frustrating,” he said. “The whole game, you are saying, ‘Stay locked in. Stay focused. You never know when it’s going to come. You never know when it will come.’ And for me, it came on the very last play. I’m not saying I wasn’t focused or ready for it. But at the same time, you have to just to go out there and beast it up. And I didn’t. So I have to go out there this week and prepare even harder.”
Arcega-Whiteside was thrust into deeper relevance early in the Atlanta game after a quick injury to Jackson. But he was prepared as a starter for Sunday. Despite that, he was targeted just three times and made one 10-yard catch.
“I don’t want to hold my standards to any level that is lower than I think I am capable of doing,” ArcegaWhiteside said. “I’ve got great wide receivers in that meeting room that I want to play like and hold myself to their standards. So I have to go out there and be as productive as those guys would be if they were out there.